Holy hooping hell, a friend of mine is getting her teacher certification and it involves videotaping a hooping class taught by you (the one getting certified) and so even though it was a beginner's class, it was still an hour and a half of hooping that I haven't gotten in a loooooong time. I'm going to be very sore tomorrow.

_________________http://seraphsong.blogspot.com/Guilty of Being Sprite - They're probably just waiting for the camera egg to hatch, which would then create a much larger camera they'd quickly find.

Oh wait, did I tell you guys that I keep getting bugged to teach a hoop dancing class right down the street from where I currently teach dance? I think it'd be really fun (and being a college student could really use the money), but I definitely don't think I'm qualified.

I hooped with other people on Friday! It was awesome, because it's always just me! And the one girl said we have to hoop together again sometime, and there's always hoops in the science building at our uni. woo!

I also videoed my hoop practice on Monday, it was sooo nice outside!! I've been practicing a lot more lately, and definitely feel the improvements but still have a long way to go.

That's awesome! You can do a couple of things I can't (I can't vertical hoop to save my life and I don't know why), also the same thing happens to me when I try to hoop on one shoulder. I even had Brian watch the tutorial, watch me do it, and then tell me what I was doing wrong and he couldn't see the problem. I like that you skipped off to get the hoop, when mine goes flying I usually look at it for a second and sigh.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

Thanks! Sometimes I can get the shoulder thing and sometimes I can't. I think the trick is when you bow your head out, make sure your shoulder is not caving forward *at all*. It needs to stick straight up. It's easy for it to come forward with your head.

And yeah, I usually just look at it and sigh too but decided to play it up since I was recording.

I practiced for a little bit on Friday - unfortunately my bad shoulder has been acting up so it was a short practice, since i'd have to tape my hands to my side to stop me from doing lifts and stuff.

I usually hoop happily behind our garage - it's paved and we have a privacy fence so no one can really see me, but then my father-in-law was like, "So I watched you hula hoop the other day." And I was like, "Oh, that's not creepy." And now i've actually gotten worse about wanting to do it outside. But Brian is going to be training for a biathalon here in town, so I think i'm going to go to the park with him and hoop while he runs around.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

You are really good Louzilla! I have an exercise hoop but don't do anything like that with it. I won free drinks all night for our whole table in a restaurant a few months ago for keeping a toy hoop up for like a minute or something, I have never been so proud of myself before! I had no idea how difficult toy hoops are to keep up when I stuck my hand up and told everyone I could do it

Are the hoops used for dancing different from the ones used for fitness?

Also thanks for the info on making hoops, I want a smaller one but live on an island where nobody sells them and shipping hoops from the mainland is ridiculously expensive. I will def give that a go

ohmygoodness. I need to at least *try* that now, mbm! Good thing I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow.

and thanks jellybel! hoops made for dancing are usually lighter than ones for fitness (though not as light/flimsy as toy hoops), so that (as nickalya mentioned before) you don't get [as] covered in bruises when trying to trick with them.

I got booked for my first hoopdance performance! It's in a year. For a local May Day festival.

Nickalya, I'm still waiting to hear how your performance went!! (maybe you posted about it elsewhere and I missed it)

I'm doing a double mini hoop performance with a lady I know on July 30th for a burlesque show... choreography is hard. ._. We each get a mini hoop and we're dressing up as red and orange sort of sexy aliens.

_________________http://seraphsong.blogspot.com/Guilty of Being Sprite - They're probably just waiting for the camera egg to hatch, which would then create a much larger camera they'd quickly find.

How did it go Louzilla? I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy tubing, but I'm not sure what kind to buy! MBM, I know you said 160 psi and 3/4 diameter is good for beginners but I'm already pretty decent with a sport hoop so does that mean I should get a lighter tube?

Possibly! One thing to keep in mind is that you can make the hoop heavier with water or even just tape adds weight, but you can't make it lighter. On the other hand, 3/4th inch tubing isn't like, so heavy it's going to hold you back. As you get better you get faster and it's easier to keep up lighter tubing, but I don't notice a huge difference between using my 1/2 inch hoop vs. my 3/4th inch ones in terms of weight. Most hardcore hoopers have 1/2 inch ones because they can make their hoops go crazy fast. I don't technically have a preference but I always seem to have the best luck with my 1/2 inch hoop. It's my beater hoop that I take outside and smack on the ground a lot so it's all torn up, but it's my favorite. I made my first hoop out of PEX and it was SO heavy and big, and then I got 1/2 inch tubing. It was such a huge difference and it was hard to keep such a light (in comparison) hoop up, but like I said, I don't think 3/4th inch is that much of a difference. I only got 3/4th inch tubing to sell hoops with.

I think the diameter of the hoop is more important, bigger hoops may be fine for just waist hooping, but when you want to do things like vertical hooping or off-body moves, you'll want something a little smaller.

So, hahaha, my totally unhelpful response is get whichever kind you want! The tubing itself isn't too pricey so honestly, if you get one and don't like it, you can go get a roll of the other. Depending on the size, it's only $11-15 for a 100 ft roll. Also, if the PSI is too low the tubing might be kind of flimsy, so at least get 120 psi.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear